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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To hire a driver? Hear me out…

19 replies

Waitinginmycar · 08/09/2021 11:30

We have three children and haven’t had a nanny since years as we haven’t needed any after school help. Now we are faced with a logistical nightmare as my three children go to different schools and have different after school activities. I can’t split myself in two and husband is not available due to work, and we have no family here. I need help, but it’s really only with the logistics. I need help getting my children places, nothing else. A nanny would hate this job as it’s driving, and occasionally waiting for an hour at a swimming pool or similar. I also only need help on two, maybe three afternoons per week. It’s definitely not a full time job.

Is finding a driver the answer? Has anyone done this? What would it cost and where should I look?

OP posts:

TweedePrik · 08/09/2021 11:34

I often see local FB ads looking for a person to pick up and run kids about from/after school. Sometimes also to stay at home until parents are back. Might suit a recently retired person, or a student with transport? Otherwise, local taxi firms might have CRB checked drivers but they might be busy at those times.

notthemum · 08/09/2021 11:44

Yep, was just coming to say check local taxi rates. You never know if its regular you might get a discount. Although if not a taxi and you employ someone solely to drive the children about then bear in mind that you would probably have to pay for their extra insurance and also for a DBS check for them as a retiree or a student or mum will probably not have one.

Bin85 · 08/09/2021 11:55

My friend had 4 children and I had 3.
Once a week we all ate at her house whilst one of us did chauffeuring to after school clubs and the other stayed with the ones not involved.
Any chance of something like that?

fairlygoodmother · 08/09/2021 12:02

How old are your children? I think a local taxi firm is probably the answer too. Especially if you don’t have a car for each child so you need someone with their own car.

LadyDanburysHat · 08/09/2021 12:02

How old are the children? Can none of them get themselves to activities or school by bus or train?

Movingsoon21 · 08/09/2021 12:04

I think it still could suit a nanny tbh, if the kids are primary school age? Yes it would be boring but it would also be easy money for them!

zingally · 08/09/2021 12:05

How have they ended up at 3 different schools? Unless you've got infant school, junior school and senior school? All on different sites?

No real advice tbh, but have you thought about just cutting back on the after-school activities? I'm sure they are all perfectly nice, but none are essential.

Galacticat · 08/09/2021 12:06

You need a mother's help.
Do they even exist still?
We had one for a while, a child care student. Worked perfectly.

Fridafever · 08/09/2021 12:09

I don’t think you need a driver - that’s normally someone who drives your own car. If you need someone driving you/ your kids in their car then that’s a taxi.

Clovacloud · 08/09/2021 12:10

We live rurally, and one of my friends had a similar problem. She ended up hiring a local lady to do the school runs, and the ferrying around for after school club runs. I think it was just someone from the village, who wanted a bit of part time work and had been a carer so had a DBS check. It worked out really well.

ittakes2 · 08/09/2021 12:12

of course it would suit a nanny - not every nanny but one happy to drive. I would not let my children go with a driver you have found off the internet - how can you check their references of working with children.
I think you are over thinking this - you just need someone who does childcare but is prepared to drive.

22Giraffes · 08/09/2021 12:16

I think that you could find a Nanny who would be suited to this role. As someone above said, it may be boring but it's easy money for them and they may be happy to read a book whilst waiting outside a club rather than doing a lot of hands on childcare.

Comedycook · 08/09/2021 12:18

@Fridafever

I don’t think you need a driver - that’s normally someone who drives your own car. If you need someone driving you/ your kids in their car then that’s a taxi.

Taxis often won't take children travelling alone.

CloudPop · 08/09/2021 12:21

Put an advert on care.com or whatever. Explain exactly what you are looking for, you may be surprised.

BikeRunSki · 08/09/2021 12:24

@zingally

How have they ended up at 3 different schools? Unless you've got infant school, junior school and senior school? All on different sites?

No real advice tbh, but have you thought about just cutting back on the after-school activities? I'm sure they are all perfectly nice, but none are essential.

Some parts of the country have middle schools. Some places have offsite infant schools.. 3 children/3 school - first, middle, high, or infants, juniors, secondary is completely feasible, without even considering the possibilities of same-stage siblings in different schools for any reason.

ApolloandDaphne · 08/09/2021 12:25

You could maybe advertise for a mother's help type person. It would be a great job for a retired person.

emmathedilemma · 08/09/2021 12:30

I saw a post on a local facebook group recently from someone who's retired but was looking for something to keep herself occupied and she was proposing exactly this sort of thing, plus more e.g. prescription collection for elderly people, transport to hospital appointments, running errands etc. "Lady Friday" was the term she used.
Some local taxi companies will take children to/from activities unaccompanied, my friends live in a rural area and their kids used to get picked up from a young age and taken to after school club which was a few miles away. You should be able to set up an account and get a driver who's police checked.
Or students are often keen for this sort of work if you're anywhere near a uni.

bookh · 08/09/2021 12:30

Yeah it's the sort of thing my retired dad does for parents in their village. Although I appreciate from reading mumsnet that may not be the norm in other places. He does a pool run on a Tuesday and a football run on a Friday and they get him bits of shopping and a bottle of wine for the weekend. He loves it, retired school caretaker.

Original poster

Waitinginmycar · 08/09/2021 17:38

Thanks everyone.

I think I will do what some have suggested and advertise on Facebook groups and care.com and see what comes up.

I can see how this could also suit some nannies but I’ve tried to find part time help for the after school hours before, and it was always really tricky. The good ones tend to want a full time position, when the children were all at school/nursery we two really lovely after school nannies but both left us for full time positions. We then were really unlucky with one student who we found through a Facebook nanny group, it was horrible to the point of us vowing never to have a nanny again, and only schedule activities in such a way that I could do it all by myself.

This worked well, but this year there is a clash between a few things so I’d love make it work if at all possible rather than tell my children no.

OP posts:

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